Friday, September 14, 2012

I can only win.

I entered a small (I believe it to be small) tournament. My official weight was 199.6 (without the gi). Later this month, I want to compete at 195 (with the gi).

The thing is, I'm totally nervous. I feel like I'm still competing against nerves, anxiety, and uncomfortableness. In time, I'll transition to competing against actual people (I hope). For now, though, I feel like I'm my own most daunting competition.

That got my thinking: How can I practice positive self-talk? I believe I've talked myself into this win-win situation:
-I do what I want to my opponent, and I win.
-I keep my opponent from doing what he wants to do (he doesn't submit me), and I win.
-Things don't go my way, but I have a nice time (in retrospect) and get some valuable experience, and I still win. (This is my euphemism for, "I get tapped.") :)